Notable Achievements

Professor of Theatre John OreSam Buehler ’20, and Sage Clay ’22 completed a faculty–student project that created the Heather McGaughey Sustainability kiosk, a public information touchscreen display located in the Jones Theater lobby. Please visit their work to find out more about environmental studies, fine arts, and Heather McGaughey’04.

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Expertise

Lighting and Sound Design, Stage Management

John Ore has two parts to his life at SU.  He is the Director of Technical Operations for the Sarofim School of Fine Art, supervising the ‘backstage’ technical theatre aspects of all the events in the Fine Art Center’s theaters . He also serves as professor for the Theatre Department. His primary teaching areas include lighting and sound design/technology and production stage management.

John received the Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, working with the resident (AEA) professional Clarence Brown Company as a part of his graduate work. John spent four years designing lights and supervising the Electrics shop at the Alley Theatre in Houston. He then served as Lighting Director/TD for two national tours, one of which included stops in Leningrad, Vilnius and other Lithuanian cities. Mr. Ore began teaching technical theatre at the University of Houston at Clear Lake, where he later became a member of Actors Equity union while working as production stage manager for the Houston Shaw Festival. A recipient of the coveted Mundy Award, John served as a Paideia professor during the first four years of this unique Southwestern academic initiative. John has also worked as a professional designer in the Austin area, with productions at the Zilker Summer Theatre, Zach Scott Theatre, Live Oak Theatre, among others.

Currently, his design energies are spent working with the Georgetown Ballet and Arts Avenue with SU students working in design/tech roles. He has also served as Director of the Tal Lostracco Summer Theatre Camp, an annual two-week residential high school drama camp. SU stage managers and designers often participate either as paid professionals or as students in Theatre Arts Management class. His other professional achievement centers on directing the Heather Hall Sustainability Project, which is nearing completion this academic year.

His teaching philosophy includes a healthy dose of introduction to the world of theatre production by incorporating the department’s current shows into the mix of diverse content. John also tries to provide a number of ways for students to succeed in his courses. His course writing assignments, script analyses, design projects and tests are plentiful and often weighted evenly. He demands active participation from everyone in the classroom and he enjoys differences of all kinds.

Affiliations:

Member: Actors Equity Association 

Member: Texas Educational Theatre Association 

One-Act Play Contest Critic Judge: University Interscholastic League- Theatre 

Member: United States Institute of Theatre Technology 

Member: Association of Theatre in Higher Education

Member: Southeastern Theatre Conference 

  • John Ore has two parts to his life at SU.  He is the Director of Technical Operations for the Sarofim School of Fine Art, supervising the ‘backstage’ technical theatre aspects of all the events in the Fine Art Center’s theaters . He also serves as professor for the Theatre Department. His primary teaching areas include lighting and sound design/technology and production stage management.

    John received the Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, working with the resident (AEA) professional Clarence Brown Company as a part of his graduate work. John spent four years designing lights and supervising the Electrics shop at the Alley Theatre in Houston. He then served as Lighting Director/TD for two national tours, one of which included stops in Leningrad, Vilnius and other Lithuanian cities. Mr. Ore began teaching technical theatre at the University of Houston at Clear Lake, where he later became a member of Actors Equity union while working as production stage manager for the Houston Shaw Festival. A recipient of the coveted Mundy Award, John served as a Paideia professor during the first four years of this unique Southwestern academic initiative. John has also worked as a professional designer in the Austin area, with productions at the Zilker Summer Theatre, Zach Scott Theatre, Live Oak Theatre, among others.

    Currently, his design energies are spent working with the Georgetown Ballet and Arts Avenue with SU students working in design/tech roles. He has also served as Director of the Tal Lostracco Summer Theatre Camp, an annual two-week residential high school drama camp. SU stage managers and designers often participate either as paid professionals or as students in Theatre Arts Management class. His other professional achievement centers on directing the Heather Hall Sustainability Project, which is nearing completion this academic year.

    His teaching philosophy includes a healthy dose of introduction to the world of theatre production by incorporating the department’s current shows into the mix of diverse content. John also tries to provide a number of ways for students to succeed in his courses. His course writing assignments, script analyses, design projects and tests are plentiful and often weighted evenly. He demands active participation from everyone in the classroom and he enjoys differences of all kinds.

    Affiliations:

    Member: Actors Equity Association 

    Member: Texas Educational Theatre Association 

    One-Act Play Contest Critic Judge: University Interscholastic League- Theatre 

    Member: United States Institute of Theatre Technology 

    Member: Association of Theatre in Higher Education

    Member: Southeastern Theatre Conference 

  • Free-lance Professional Design Work

    The Nutcracker, Georgetown Ballet, December 2018

    Swan Lake, Georgetown Ballet, June 2017

    Dance Empower, Dance Recital May 2017

    The Nutcracker, Georgetown Ballet, December 2017

    Bilitis, Brown Symposium 2010

     The Music Man, Zilker Theatre Productions, Summer 2009

    Romeo and Juliet, Austin Shakespeare, May 2009

    Petra’s Sueno, Rollins Theatre at the Long Center, Summer, 2008

     My Favorite Year, Zilker Hillside Theatre Productions, Summer, 2007

    Debussy Evening, U. Texas Opera Theatre, November, 2006

     American Fiesta, (AEA), McCullough Theatre, October, 2006

    American Fiesta, (AEA), State Theatre, August, 2006

    Twelfth Night, State Theatre Company, Austin (AEA), Spring, 2006

    Hamlet (AEA) Austin Shakespeare Festival (AEA), Fall, 2005

    Annie Get Your Gun, Zilker Hillside Theatre Productions, Summer, 2005

    Midsummer Night’s Dream, Austin Shakespeare Festival (AEA), October 2004

    The Death of Ivan Illyich, (AEA-world premiere) Denison University April 2004

     Voice of the Whale, ACS New Music and Technology Workshop, July 2003

    Lighting Design for Word and Thought, Waller Creek Auditorium, July-August 2003

    Lighting Design for Klezmatics concert at Agudas Achim synagogue, Dell campus- January, 2002

    Lighting Design for Grease!, Summer Stage Repertory 2002

    Sound Design for Alice In Wonderland, Summer Stage Repertory 2002

  • Panelist: Theatre’s Ecological Footprint, “Our Future Looks Bright, ’cause it’s filled with LEDs,” New York City, ATHE

    Poster presentation: “What’s black and white to you is value to me” ATHE, Denver

    Paper: “The Dramaturgy of Light,” USITT; Designer as Dramaturge-Addressing the scholarship of design, Houston

    Paper: “The Dramaturgy of Light” Design as Dramaturgy: from Caspar Neher to Robert Wilson. New Orleans

    Co-Contributor: “LEDs: Coming to a theatre near you” with junior theatre major Mindy Griffin ACS Drama Workshop, Furman University

    Session Chair: Roundtable Session on Stage Management, Texas Educational Theatre Association,

    Focus Group Representative for Design and Technology, Association for Theatre in Higher Education

    Focus Group Conference Planner, Association for Theatre in Higher Education

    Panelist: “Value Added” Design and Technology Panel Session- ATHE Conference in Toronto

    Contributor: Automated Lighting Demonstration/Workshop, ACS Drama Workshop, Trinity University, June 2004 with Melanie Sowa and Leia Crawford

    Presentation: Independent Studies of Lighting Rendering Software, ACS Drama Workshop

    Participant: Design and Technology Focus Group Panel Session Panel Session ATHE 

    Co-coordinator and Participant: Design and Technology Focus Group Panel Session ATHE 

    Participant: Design and Technology Focus Group Panel Session Panel Session ATHE 

    Presentation: “The Care and Feeding of your Stage Manager”, TETA